Looking over the posts that I have written this summer, it’s fairly self evident that I haven’t been thinking much about the things that I have been jotting down here (except perhaps for the last one!), I realise that I did say that I would be more visual in my posts over the summer to try and at least simply share what I have been up to, though now that the nights have started to draw in and the children can be persuaded into bed at a much more reasonable hour it would be sensible to presume that I have a bit of spare time on my hands to get writing. (Ha! I hear all those parents of young children cry – they know whats coming next!). In actual fact it’s true the opportunity has presented itself on more than one occasion over the last week, but one post was the sum total of my writing, and that was more out of loyalty to my daughter rather than to the blog.
In an effort to assuage my guilt towards the blog I thought that I ought to have a proper catch up with you all and try and fill in the blanks left by the last few weeks of, well, for want of a better word, laziness.
We’ve been out and about in the beloved camper van quite a lot, we’ve spend plenty of it at a local holiday park, whose main attraction is the swimming pool. It’s a special, significant place for us, where we went after mine and the Tallest’s diagnosis of Marfan Syndrome was confirmed, for three days or so we cut ourselves off from our outside lives, hugged our beautiful girls and had a good weep every now and then as the news sunk in. It’s a good place to be, the Girls love it and it’s now inextricably linked to our family history, who needs more of a reason to spend time there?
We have, of course, also had the post camping coughs and runny noses to contend with…the Smallest has the monopoly on this!
The Girls have been flexing their Greenfingers, although the emphasis has been firmly on growing things that are pretty rather than edible. Although it’s amazing how well marigolds look alongside cabbages and beetroots!
As I was harvesting the broccoli side shoots, and handing them to the Smallest to place in a crate yesterday she turned to me and said
“You’re a very good helper Mummy.”
“Thank you” I reply “and you; are a very good gardener”
“Yes, I am”
Oh! to have her confidence. I’d be at Chelsea!
We’ve been riding The Poppy Line too, the girls love the steam engines, we have plans to take them on others, I have vivid childhood memories of many of them having ridden pretty much every line as a child on family holidays indulging my Dad’s passions for steam railways. I never could work out why we stayed in places that were so near a steam line, I always thought it was coincidence, of course I know better now!
The allotment has taken up a fair chunk of my time, as has work. I’ll be the first to admit that I have been finding the balancing of the two a rather tricky beast to tame, and I have to hold my hands up and say that I have been failing miserably of late, and am writing this in bed after feeling washed out all day at work after pushing myself too hard on my ‘days off’ ( The allotment looks splendid though – more on that another time!) I’ve now had a sum total of two days at home on my own without the children since school started, and I’m finding it incredibly hard to sit still, which was, in the main part, the plan. Perhaps the next time that I have to ring the Cardiac Nurse’s I might realise it’s about taking it easy sometimes and not always about ticking things off the list. Front garden cleared and roman blind in the Girls room repaired – tick and tick – Must stop this.
The hospital is the other place that we have been to over the summer holidays, both expected and unexpected trips. I have been having problems with Ectopic heartbeats, now solved with a medication change. The Tallest has been to see the Physiotherapist, and has been visited by the Occupational Therapist. She has new DAFO’s, is shortly to be fitted with Lycra Support clothing (something a bit like this) to help with her posture and back pain, and will have seat wedges and pencil grips to help with her posture and joint aches whilst she is in lessons at school.
She is, as ever, taking all of this in her stride.
When I read that I’m struggling to work out if I’ve been managing everything as well as I could have, it’s little wonder that I’ve been finding it a bit demanding, but on the lighter side of things it could be so much worse, and it isn’t, and that’s what keeps me going.
Then there’s the studio to sort out, as I have committed to making a piece of work for (my first in six years) an exhibition being organised by a work friend, next month. I can’t even take one step inside the place let alone make work in it, quite despite the fact that Hubby and I had promised to tackle it this summer so that I could get in there when the new school year started. And so the list grows…
Any advice on how to make the list my friend, and not my tormentor? (Don’t suggest throwing it away or then I would be truly overwhelmed.)
The positivity has started with Hubby finishing work early and collecting the Girls from childcare instead of me. Therefore leaving him able to help with supper and bedtime, unlike the up till now usual of coming home just as I am trying to settle the Smallest into bed. Not appreciated. Bad timing.
I’m beginning to think that less days at work might be an answer, but Hubby is fully convinced that I would just ‘do more’ at home. He’s probably right! At least we have tea breaks and lunch hours at work!
I can’t see home life letting up any time soon, so perhaps the work days do need to come down a notch. I’m going to think that one over (whilst I am at work for the next two days!).
